Cadets announce 2009 percussion staff

[Jofus]

Eight of the best to lead Cadets' Percussion Section

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

By: Caryn Goebel

New faces, veterans make up 2009 instructional team

The Cadets Percussion Section instructional staff has been finalized, including new caption heads/arrangers and technicians who round out a solid number of veteran instructors.

The Cadets have locked in a dynamic and talented group of percussionists to guide the 2009 section as they begin work on “Lenny,” the corps’ 75th Anniversary program that spotlights the great composer Leonard Bernstein.

Tapped by recently announced Director of Percussion Colin McNutt, the Cadets welcome James Sparling as a technician with the Tom Section and Cadets alumnus and recent age-out Jacob Gall as a snare instructor. The two join Cadets’ veteran percussion instructors Jason Inhat (Front Ensemble), Chris Vale (snares), Sean McElroy (bass drums in summer) and Bobby Marino (bass drums in winter.) Iain Moyer was announced as the corps’ Front Ensemble Arranger last month.

James Sparling

Sparling marched tenors with Trinity Indoor Percussion Ensemble in 2000, the WGI World Champion Music City Mystique in 2001, Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps in 2001, the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2002 and RhythmX Indoor Percussion Ensemble in 2003-2004. In 2002, Sparling was a part of the Colin McNutt marching clinic at PASIC. He served on the percussion staff for the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps in 2003, the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps in 2004-2006, the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in 2007-2008. He currently works with Spirit of America as visual designer and RhythmX.

Sparling received his degree in Music Education with a minor in Architecture at Miami University. While at Miami, he performed with nearly all possible ensembles. He has been heavily involved in the world music ensemble, Global Rhythms, where he served as Percussion Coordinator and Arranger from 2004 to 2006. This ensemble has led him to perform and work with Grammy winners Glen Velez and Jamal Mohammed, Ghatam Khartick's heARTbeat, Musafir, Jeff Queen, Michael Burritt, Anthony Cirone, Indian film composer A.R. Rahmn, Nelly Furtado, and Lenny Kravitz.

He has taught marching percussion and privately for several years and is currently working with Carroll High School, Centerville High School, The University of Cincinnati alongside Nick Angelis, and serves as a Director of Percussion at Bellbrook High School/Middle School.

Jacob Gall

Jacob Gall joins the Cadets instructional team for the first time this year. He comes from Richmond, Va., where he was born into a musical family. It was through the influence of Gall’s first band director - his father - that he developed a passion for music. During high school, he served as principal percussionist for Virginia's Allstate Band for three years, consecutively. Gall’s five years in drum corps included playing tenors for Jersey Surf, snare for the Crossmen, and then three years in the snare line of the Cadets. In his final season with The Cadets, Gall was section leader/center snare, receiving the award for Cadet of the Year.

Today, Gall resides in State College, Pa., where he is studying Music Education as a senior at Pennsylvania State University. In addition to Gall’s studies, 2008 marks his seventh year as a private music teacher. Among his four years at P.S.U., this is Gall’s second year as section leader/center snare for the Penn State Blue Band drum line. He has also performed in a number of different ensembles at P.S.U. These include The Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Campus Band, Percussion Ensemble, Mallet Ensemble, and a number of smaller chamber ensembles.

In the Spring 2008, he was chosen to be principal percussionist for the P.S.U. Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Also, during Spring 2008, Jacob was awarded the Eleanor Beane Scholarship for outstanding solo performances on marimba and multiple-percussion. Gall has had the honor of performing with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Pa., and has also performed Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Jason Ihnat

Ihnat has been with the Cadets as a front ensemble instructor since 2004. His drum corps career began in 1993 as a member of the Northern Aurora Drum and Bugle Corps from Saginaw, Mich. He remained with Northern Aurora until 1996, receiving several awards including the 1995 “Member of the Year.” Ihnat joined the Cadets in 1998 primarily serving as a timpanist in the pit. In 1998, Jason had the privilege of being part of the corps seventh DCI championship year and remained with the corps through his age out year in 1999, receiving a “Distinguished Service Award.”

Ihnat continued in the drum corps activity teaching with the Americanos Drum and Bugle Corps from 2000-2002, serving as the caption head and percussion arranger in 2002. Honors with the Americanos include DCI Division III silver medalist in 2000, bronze medalist in 2001 and the “Spirit of Disney Award” in 2002. During the summer of 2004, Jason began teaching with the Cadets as he simultaneously served as the pit instructor with the Kiwanis Kavaliers. Since 2005, he has been exclusively with the Cadets.

In addition to his drum corps experience, Ihnat is also very involved in the Winter Guard International percussion scene. He has served as the director and co-founder of the Eastside Fury Percussion Ensemble since 2000. Honors with Eastside Fury include Independent ‘A’ Class World Champions in 2000, Independent ‘Open’ Class World Champions in 2004, and Independent ‘Open’ Class bronze medalists in 2001 and 2002. Currently, Eastside Fury competes in the Independent ‘World’ Class and has placed as high as 7th (2005) at the WGI World Championships. Ihnat has served several years on the WGI Percussion Advisory Board since 2000 and was on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Color Guard Circuit as the Percussion Liaison from 2001-2008.

In 2001, Ihnat received a Bachelor of Music Education from Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.. That same year, he began his career as a band director working in Memphis, Mich., as an instrumental and vocal music teacher in the Memphis Community Schools. From 2004-2006, he joined the teaching staff at L’Anse Creuse High School in Harrison Township, Mich., as the Assistant Director of Bands.

In Fall 2006, Ihnat began his graduate work in music education at Eastern Michigan University and has since finished the course work for that degree, but has continued at EMU, studying composition with renowned composer Dr. Anthony Iannaccone. He has also served as the percussion assistant and arranger with the Eastern Michigan University Bands since 2001.

Chris Vale

Chris Vale is entering his fifth year teaching the Cadets snare line. He began his marching career with the Cadets as a member of the snare drum line in 1999 and continued through 2003 under the tutelage of Tom Aungst. During his time with the Cadets, Chris was the 1999 Rookie of the Year and a member of the 2000 DCI World Championship drum corps. In addition, Vale was the percussion section leader from 2001-2003, where he assisted in leading the Cadets to three straight DCI High Percussion Awards.

Vale graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 2004 with a bachelors degree in biological studies. During his studies at UMass, Vale was also a member of the Minuteman Marching Band from 2000-2003. As a member of the drum line at UMass, he was the percussion section leader during the 2002 and 2003 seasons where he studied under Thom Hannum and Colin McNutt.

Vale began his teaching career in 2004 as a member of the Madison Scouts percussion staff. In 2005, he returned to Cadets as the snare tech and has continued in that role ever since. Outside of DCI, Vale taught and arranged for the percussion section of the Waterford High School Marching Band from 2004-2006. In 2006, he helped lead Waterford to the USSBA National Championship in Annapolis, Md.

Currently, Vale resides in Natick, Mass., and teaches biology at Holliston High School.

Sean McElroy

McElroy started his drumming experience in his hometown of Denver, Colo. There, he marched three years with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps playing bass drum for the summers of 2000-2002. During the winter season between those summers, McElroy marched snare drum for the Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble. In the summer of 2003, Sean joined the Cadets Drum Corps where he aged out playing bass drum number three.

McElroy currently teaches with the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps where he has served as the bass technician for the past five seasons and the Blue Knights Percussion Ensemble, where he serves as the Staff Coordinator and Visual Designer. He also teaches and designs for various schools in the Denver area and remains heavily involved in the local marching percussion scene.

Bobby Marino

The upcoming summer will mark Bobby Marino’s second season working with the Cadets bass drum line. Marino started his drum corps career with the Raiders, marching from 1997-1999 in the drum line. He joined the Cadets in 2000 playing in the bass drum line through the 2003 season. During his four years with the Cadets, the corps captured a considerable number of awards including a World Championship in 2000 and the three-peat percussion championships during 2001, 2002 and 2003. Marino went on to teach the bass lines of the Capital Regiment in 2004 and the Madison Scouts in 2006.

Outside of drum corps, Marino has taught several award winning high school marching band programs, including River Hill High School in Maryland, Westminster High School in Maryland, Arlington High School and North Rockland High School, both in New York, Fair Lawn High School, Belleville High School and Monroe Township High School, all in New Jersey. He was also the battery caption head and arranger for the Boston University Marching Band and an instructor with their award winning winter percussion ensemble in 2006.

Marino is a 2005 graduate of the Eastman School of Music with a double major in percussion performance and music education. While at Eastman, Marino earned the coveted Performer's Certificate, was named Principal Percussionist for the Eastman Wind Ensemble's highly acclaimed 2004 Asian Tour and was the timpanist for their celebrated appearance at Carnegie Hall in 2005. He has done graduate work at Boston University and is currently finishing his degree at the University of Maryland. Since 2006, Bobby has been the timpanist of the United States Army Field Band from Washington, D.C.

The Cadets will hold auditions for new and returning members on Nov. 21-23 in the Philadelphia, Pa., area. The location will be announced as soon as it becomes available.

For more information on becoming a Cadet in their 75th Anniversary season, contact Assistant Director Justin Heimbecker at Justin@yea.org, or by telephone at (610) 821-0345, Ext. 12.

Sounds pretty good to me! James Sparling will do a great job with the quads in (making an assumption) Stan Moore's absence. I marched under him in 06 and he turned our quad line of 5 rookies to a very solid section. He's also done great work at Rythm X and Crown. I'm also pleased to see the addition of Jake Gall to the staff! He was a terrific section leader and I'm sure he'll contribute to the success of the percussion section. Looks like Colin McNutt and George pulled a great group of guys together.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Jofus

[FTNK]

Yay James Sparling went to my school

[Bari-Player]

James is an excellent teacher.

And a hilarious classmate. Good times.. I hope he reads this.